Various mechanisms are known in the art for holding the tail end of a fabric or paper to a winding roll, to prevent separation of the fabric or paper from the roll during the initial winding. U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,924, issued to Nowisch et al., discloses using water jets to wet the end of a web material, facilitating temporary adhesion between the web end and a winding core. The use of an adhesive to bond the tail end of a paper or web to a winding roll is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,994,396 (Reilly et al.); 3,765,615 (Brink et al.); 3,524,779 (Masters et al.); 3,128,057 (Barnhart et al.). The use of static electricity to adhere the tail end of a web to a spool is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,273,222 (Hutzenlaub et al.); 3,899,892 (Melead); and 3,345,009 (Rockstrom).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,762 (Kuhn) discloses using glue, pins, or another similar method to mount one end of a web strip to a winding tube. U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,406 (Nakano) discloses a tube member covered with a lining. U.S. Pat. No. 2,318,056 (Christman) discloses applying suction to a perforated or slotted core in order to hold toilet paper or paper towels to the core during winding. U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,388 (Davis) discloses heat bonding one end of a sheet to an empty core. U.S. Pat. No. 2,095,123 (Carkhuff) discloses a knife gripper with serrated tooth edges that grabs and penetrates one end of a paper sheet as it is being wound.
For polymeric nonwoven webs and other polymeric fabrics, adhesives (e.g., in the form of adhesive tapes) have typically been used to bond the web ends to the winding cores. Adhesive tapes useful for bonding plastic fabrics are generally expensive, and are hard to remove when the fabrics are unwound. Also, nonwoven webs are commonly used in medical gowns, personal care products including diapers and adult care products, and other human contact applications. Accordingly, any adhesive which comes into contact with the nonwoven webs must pass close scrutiny and meet strict regulatory guidelines. There is a need or desire for a mechanism to initiate the winding of nonwoven webs onto the winding cores without requiring contact with adhesives or other chemicals.